Ambear's Cheesey Biscuits

My big girl was baking up a storm in the kitchen this weekend. She made these cheesey biscuits from  The Great Big Glorious Book for Girls - now I must say, if you have a daughter or sweet little friend aged 7-11 then I would highly recommend this book. Ambear has had it a few years now, it is battered and falling apart but she comes back to it again and again. It is filled with projects, recipes and other secret girl stuff!

Anyhow, back to the biscuits. These were super easy, an ideal recipe for kids to tackle alone with little supervision. They were very tasty and Ambear was most pleased to note that by the end of the day there was nothing left on the biscuit plate except crumbs, a true indication of success me thinks!

You will need:
100g (7/8 cup) Cheddar Cheese grated - we used extra mature because we like strong cheese
100g (4/5 cup) Self raising flour
120ml (1/2 cup) Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4/350ºF
• Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mash with a fork
• Flour your hands and surface and press the mixture out until it is about 1" thick
• Cut into rounds or shape of your choosing
• Place on an oiled baking sheet and bake for 8-10 mins until golden brown

 We had to add a little extra olive oil as it was a little too dry and crumbly to shape, I think plain flour might yield a more crunchy biscuit, so we will try that next time.

Ambear has also been busy making lots of sweet little things from Polymer Clay, she is like a child possessed and has turned out oodles of teeny tiny dolls accessories and pretty charms. These dinky little cupcakes are my favourite, isn't she brilliant?

Apple Compote for Breakfast

Around this time of year, we make the most of the ripe fruits that abound at Autumn by preserving them. There are two apple trees at River Cottage, but these had long since given up their bounty before we arrived.
I was feeling a bit of a pang for the mountains of fresh fruit we would be picking if at home in France, and after discussing this with the children and finding they shared that sentiment, we had to concede it is simply not cost effective to make your own raspberry, strawberry or apricot jam (our favourites!) when you have to buy the fruit.

The Hoozel asked if, as a compromise, I could make some Apple Compote. This is very much a staple in France, children eat it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, or sometimes all three! Hoozel loves to dollop it on to muesli with greek yoghurt, with ice cream or rice pudding, or alone with hunks of crusty bread. The latter never much appealed to me, but it is very much common place in France.

Anyway, how could I refuse? Apples are not as pricey as berries so I picked up some Bramley apples and set to work, and I share the recipe with you here.



If you have never made compote, or are not sure what it is, rest assured it is super easy and super tasty! A compote is basically any chopped up fresh fruit, simmered in sugar syrup. It is only a small amount of sugar, so it won't set or preserve like jam/jelly, but it keeps in the fridge for around two weeks and freezes well.

Ingredients:
8 Bramley Apples (or other fresh fruit)
Sugar approx 100g
Butter approx 100g
Spices such as ginger or cinammon can be added if you like
And the most indespensible ingredient of all, LOVE :)

I have stated how many apples I used, I rarely weigh anything, unless I am baking, and prefer to add sugar to taste, being as I made it for the children, the less sugar the better, but feel free to pile it in with reckless abandon until it tastes just so, but I would say 150g should be the maximum, otherwise you're getting into jam territory and it will set.

1/ Peel, core and chop the apples into chunks. Melt the butter in a heavy based pan/pot and throw in the apple chunks, return to the heat (medium) and stir until all the apple is coated with the butter.

2/ Add around 100g of sugar and stir in, continue to stir until the apple begins to breakdown and become mushy. Reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer and leave for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't stick.

How long it takes depends on the types of apples or fruit you use, so use the time as a guideline only, once your compote is smooth and all the apples have collapsed, it is ready.
Store it in the fridge in sterilised jars for up to two weeks. 8 large Bramley apples will make 3-4 jars.



Hazel heaped it on her muesli this morning, and swore she could taste the love in it <3

Fruit for Jam

I have been swinging between crazy tiredness and random bursts of energy, hence my recent absence! Just 12 weeks to go before baby is due and I feel so unprepared, for everything! How did the time go so fast?

Anyways, I have been busily stitching, lots of new creations, mostly all for swaps, will share soon, I haven't had a chance to photograph them yet, but will be back ASAP with pics galore!

I have also been busily stirring up a storm at the stove for the last few days. Lots of fruit grows on our land, and lots comes from our kind neighbours, so the Jam Pot has barely been out of use in recent weeks.
I now have enough Jam to feed a small country, I'm sure!

Check out the scrumptious fruit!



Raspberries and blackberries mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!



The cherries came from Monsieur Honesty's garden, despite the fact we have 4 cherry tree's, and he only has 1! Our tree's netted us a total of about um, 2 cherries, the birds were just too fast for us lazy pickers and gobbled them all up. Monsieur Honesty had about 50kg off his one tree, and he didn't net his either, I can only assume the local resident Swallows think our cherries taste better, though this I can't guarantee since I barely tasted a single one, look, here is one lone cherry in our tree, ces't la vie!



The children reminded me that cherrie's are much more than a delicious snack....



Cherry earrings! How sad that stores don't sell cherries in bunches like this anymore, in the UK at least, all cherries have to be seperated (some bizarre Government food legislation), millions of kids will grow up not knowing about cherry earrings, someone should write to the Primeminister! :) Or at least, plant a cherry tree in your garden, just make sure you get there before the birdies!

I forgot to photograph the HUGE glut of apricots we had too, in the jam pot they went!
Everything else is sprouting foliage like wild fire, we can barely keep up with the growth in recent weeks. This being our first summer here (and previously having had a gardener for our French house when we lived full time in the UK), we had no idea how much work was involved with simply cutting the acres of grass and meadow, pruning tree's and generally keeping things from turning into a Jungle!
I dare say, I shouldn't really complain too much about this, since Simon does most of the hard labour (given my present condition), whilst I sun myself and watch :)

I am now plotting what on earth we are going to do with the apples this autumn, the tree's are bowing under the weight of more kinds of apples than I even knew existed, and to think the orchard is only at 1/4 of it's potential capacity, owing to most of it being buried (still!) under a bramble jungle.
So apples, any ideas? Cider is a must, apple puree for baby, what else is there to do with several hundred KG of apples?



One of my favourite things about summer..... BASIL.
I just planted these up in an old French crate I found at a local brocante recently, I LOVE the smell of Basil, to me, Basil IS summer, torn up and tossed into salads, on to fresh tomatoes drizzled with olive oil, mmmmmmmmmmmm.



AnyhooOOoO, duty calls, dinner will not cook itself! I am using more apricots to make an Apricot Bread and Butter Pudding this evening, will share the results and recipe tomorrow :) Until then, Bon Weekend!